Wizards Win First Playoff Series For Just the Third Time Since the 1970s.

Rare were any sport’s writers or arm chair pundits….outside of the DMV…who gave the Washington Wizards a chance in their first-round pairing against the Chicago Bulls earlier this month.

Chicago was working without Derrick Rose and the traded Luol Deng yet again, but this was still nearly the same Bulls team that gutted out a first-round win over the favored Brooklyn Nets last season. The one that turned Joakim Noah into the second coming of Bill Walton. The one that somehow ran a 36-16 record to end the regular season based partially around the stylings of D.J Augustin.

No, the Wizards were too young, too flighty, too inexperienced and just plain not good enough – apparently – to compete with The Bulls That Never Quit. And yet, within the span of five grueling, often excruciating playoff games, the Wizards have turned into the giant killers. Even if Chicago probably shouldn’t have ever been termed a “giant” to begin with.

This is a huge step for our franchise that hadn’t been to the postseason since 2008, but with Wall and Beal leading the way, they won 44 games during the regular season.

“It just shows our continued growth,” Beal said. “We played great basketball in this series and we can only continue to get better and better.”

GAME 5 RECAP:

John Wall finished with 24 points, Nene scored 20, and the Wizards beat the Chicago Bulls 75-69 on Tuesday night to clinch their first-round series in five games.

Bradley Beal scored 17 points, and the fifth-seeded Wizards advanced in the postseason for just the third time since the 1970s.

They will meet Indiana or Atlanta in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Hawks lead the series 3-2.

WHUR

WHUR 96.3 FM – Howard University is Washington’s only stand-alone radio station and one of the few university-owned commercial radio stations in America, broadcasting since 1971 to nearly a half million listeners daily in five states and can now be heard around the globe on the web at whur.com. The first radio station in the Washington area to broadcast in HD, WHUR is the recipient of numerous awards, including the prestigious NAB Marconi for Best Urban Station of the Year and NAB Crystal Radio Award for Excellence in Community Service.